Erin's blog
Part 1 Day 1 The Bus
Part 1 Day 1 The Bus 
The Bus seemed easiest way to make my way to Tokyo, although the pick up point for the bus is quite far, if we moved I would buy a car and parking is free if you take the highway bus in a lot that is very close to the stop. The trip on the bus to Tokyo was quite easy and uneventful, and put me in Shibuya in plenty of time
The trip back was much less fun. I missed 2 buses that could have gotten me home because I was in the wrong place. I ended up going back to Shinjuku to get on the bus. When I got to Shinjuku there was a bus leaving at 730 but it only had "juseki" or fold down center seats available. This is equivalent to riding on a milk carton on roller skates in the center isle. I chose to take the next bus at 2000. I had a 1/2 hour before the bus left so I used it to get a 1/4 Pounder from Mc Donalds, and beer from Family Mart. I sat down on a side street and chowed down.
At 2000 I caught the bus and was finally on my way home 2 hours later than planned.
At 2130 I met Satomi at the interchange bus stop where I got on the bus almost 15 hours before. We went to a friends house to pick up my niece and then went home. Some where around 11 I got to sleep.
Tomorrow will be a tougher test, the train to and from Tokyo, wish me luck. Below is a breakdown of the day.
Cost 1,540 yen Distance:115.0 km Time 105 minutes
0555 Woke up 
The Bus seemed easiest way to make my way to Tokyo, although the pick up point for the bus is quite far, if we moved I would buy a car and parking is free if you take the highway bus in a lot that is very close to the stop. The trip on the bus to Tokyo was quite easy and uneventful, and put me in Shibuya in plenty of time
The trip back was much less fun. I missed 2 buses that could have gotten me home because I was in the wrong place. I ended up going back to Shinjuku to get on the bus. When I got to Shinjuku there was a bus leaving at 730 but it only had "juseki" or fold down center seats available. This is equivalent to riding on a milk carton on roller skates in the center isle. I chose to take the next bus at 2000. I had a 1/2 hour before the bus left so I used it to get a 1/4 Pounder from Mc Donalds, and beer from Family Mart. I sat down on a side street and chowed down.
At 2000 I caught the bus and was finally on my way home 2 hours later than planned.
At 2130 I met Satomi at the interchange bus stop where I got on the bus almost 15 hours before. We went to a friends house to pick up my niece and then went home. Some where around 11 I got to sleep.
Tomorrow will be a tougher test, the train to and from Tokyo, wish me luck. Below is a breakdown of the day.
Cost 1,540 yen Distance:115.0 km Time 105 minutes
0620 Left house
0635 Got to bus stop
0655 got on the bus 1540 yen
0740 couldn't hold it and had to use the bus restroom
0755 Got onto Shutoko Expressway LOTS of traffic but it thinned out quickly
0813 got the train from ikijiri-ohashi to Shibuya, Monday on non-work week, still pretty crowded. I think I can walk this part on nice days, just need to check out how far it is.
0835 at the office no one here but me :(
Around 930 another 2 guys showed up and sat in the corner having a meeting. I had 2 Red Bulls and some bread and felt OK. I got to work and quickly finished 2 tasks that I thought would take much much longer.
Around 12 I got some lunch and around 4 or 5 started feeling the effects of being up so early and the travelling.
Having a hard time concentrating and a slight headache, but with only a hour left I just sucked it up.
1810 leave the office
1824 got to the !#$? bus stop?
1830 no bus
1845 no bus
1824 got to the !#$? bus stop?
1830 no bus
1845 no bus
1850 decide to go to Shinjuku cause I must be in the wrong place
1920 get to Shinjuku try to buy a ticket but all the seats were taken
1925 get ticket on 2000 bus
1940 got a 1/4 pounder a beer and sat down outside a chowed
2000 on the bus, head hurts and feeling very tired
2020 found out where the Ikijiriohahshi stop is I was off the mark by about 100 meters FML1920 get to Shinjuku try to buy a ticket but all the seats were taken
1925 get ticket on 2000 bus
1940 got a 1/4 pounder a beer and sat down outside a chowed
2000 on the bus, head hurts and feeling very tired
2130 Satomi picked me up at Tomie Gotemba
2200 Went to friends house for 1 beer
2240 Got home
2300 Got into bed
The great commutation experiment
The great commutation experiment
On board for 125 minutes (Traveling for 137 minutes)
One-way fare:1,470 yen Distance:105.0 km
140 minutes starting at 620 AM sounds sadly unmanageable for me.
Finally the bus. There is a highway bus between Gotemba and Shinjuku. The second last stop is 1.7 Kilometers from my office. I initially thought I could walk from Ikijiriohashi but now think that in the winter cold or summer heat or spring and fall rains..... I will just take the train.
The bus departs 0655 and gets to Ikijiriohashi at 810, a quick trip on the train, although it will be a very crowded train it will get me to the office around 830. The cost is 1540 yen and you always get a seat, unfortunately the biggest problem with the bus is if the bus is late they do not give out "inconvenience tickets" which tell your employer you were late due to the bus/train/plane ect, and when your company is very aggressive about docking pay for lateness it could get expensive.
For this experiment I will try to check for my own sanity, how difficult it would be to go to work in Tokyo from Gotemba. For day 1 I will try the bus, then the regular commuter line, then finally the Shinkansen to see which is fastest, easiest and cheapest. I think in order to stay under budget and still make it back every night it will take some usage of a combination of the bus and other routes. Stay tuned the next couple of days to see what the results and side effects are.
Pay cuts suck but they are better than loosing your job. Recent changes at work and home, if you do not know, number 3 is on the way, have forced us to rethink our financial situation. For reasons unknown to any rational thinking adult I am considering commuting to work (Tokyo) from home in Gotemba. It is a 2 hour trip one way.
If you ask Satomi she will tell you that "Lots of people do it." I have not seen lots of people doing it as a matter of fact when I asked how much my company would pay for commuting from Gotemba the HR women all looked at me like I was holding my own bloody head in my hands and making it speak through some sort of devilish sorcery. When the shock wore off they started laughing and saying we will pay for what ever the "cheapest cost is to commute". This will most likely be JR line from Gotemba to Matsuda then Odakyu to Shimokitazawa to Shibuya.
Here is a break down of what that would look like. On board for 125 minutes (Traveling for 137 minutes)
One-way fare:1,470 yen Distance:105.0 km
Iwanami
06:22am
07:08am
[46min.] 35.1km 650yen
Matsuda/Shin-Matsuda
Odakyu Line
Express 07:16am
08:28am
[72min.] 66.9km 700yen
Shimokitazawa
Keio-Inokashira Line 08:32am
08:39am
[7min.] 3.0km 120yen
Shibuya
140 minutes starting at 620 AM sounds sadly unmanageable for me.
The second option is to take Shinkansen and is probably what people think when think of traveling to work by train.
I do not dispute the fact that it would be faster and probably more comfortable, but it is almost 3 x the cost. They have commuter passes for that but I am afraid that it would still be such a huge chunk of change each month that it would just be cheaper to live in Tokyo.
On board for 84 minutes (Traveling for 107 minutes)
One-way fare:4,910 yen Distance:141.5 km
Iwanami
Gotemba Line 05/04/2010
06:48am
07:07am
[19min.] 14.9km 2520yen
Numazu
Tokaido Line(JR Tokai) 07:10am
07:16am
[6min.] 5.5km
Mishima
Kodama No.704 07:22am
08:09am
[47min.] 113.9km Reserved 2390yen
Shinagawa
Yamanote Line 08:23am
08:35am
[12min.] 7.2km
Shibuya
Finally the bus. There is a highway bus between Gotemba and Shinjuku. The second last stop is 1.7 Kilometers from my office. I initially thought I could walk from Ikijiriohashi but now think that in the winter cold or summer heat or spring and fall rains..... I will just take the train.
The bus departs 0655 and gets to Ikijiriohashi at 810, a quick trip on the train, although it will be a very crowded train it will get me to the office around 830. The cost is 1540 yen and you always get a seat, unfortunately the biggest problem with the bus is if the bus is late they do not give out "inconvenience tickets" which tell your employer you were late due to the bus/train/plane ect, and when your company is very aggressive about docking pay for lateness it could get expensive.
For this experiment I will try to check for my own sanity, how difficult it would be to go to work in Tokyo from Gotemba. For day 1 I will try the bus, then the regular commuter line, then finally the Shinkansen to see which is fastest, easiest and cheapest. I think in order to stay under budget and still make it back every night it will take some usage of a combination of the bus and other routes. Stay tuned the next couple of days to see what the results and side effects are.
In the News Ms. Universe 2007 and some other stuff from Japan.
A big week for Japan in the world stage.
Japans baseball players in America continue to do well. If you watched the morning/evening news you would swear they are the only players on the team. Funny I don't even like baseball but in Japan it is that or golf news. Snooze Snooze. Snooze.
Ichiro continues to hit well.
Matsui hit a 2 run homer but the rest of his team is not doing so well.
A 71 year old man climbed Everest. I would like to still be physically active in my 70's but I really hope I do not have anything left to prove to myself or anyone else at that point.
And finally a new Miss Universe was crowned and it was Ms. Japan. I think she is really hot!
But that is just me.
Apparently some Koreans and Venezuela's are a little upset because the Korean interrupter botched the job. A quote from smallscreen.monstersandcritics.com:
From here
"Ashley Korkova KimMay 29th, 2007 - 06:17:41
The translation for the Miss Korea Interview was not accurate.
She said she wanted a superpower of making everyone happy. She wanted a power of being able to have a wallet that will be always full to do her missionary work.
That translator was truly a mess and did no good for Miss Korea.
Either Miss Venezuela or Korea should have one.
They deserve it and truly have great ambitions to better our world.
All Miss Japan wants to be is a dancer."
Koreans are always a little pissed at the Japanese. Oh well.
But It was funny and interesting as I did a little more research. All from my chair. I found this little tidbit.
Apparently people bet on who will win Ms. Universe. Who'da Thunk?!? I wouldn't even care except some on I know from Shizuoka keeps making a big deal out of it and I can't escape it every time the TV comes on. The fact that she had 22 to 1 odds and still won is putting the gambling community on its ear.
A side note to all the haters in Mexico if you don't like us so much or our policy's why do you insist on coming to America in droves. I have no love for any fool who gets on stage based solely on her looks, but to boo her cause you wish you were born in America. Pretty sad......
ERIN TEST2
I enabled a bunch of
